I spent saturday with my buddy Aaron at the MN State Fair, a place where deep-fried pickles, apple cider floats, and major rock concerts can be found side by side.  The people watching was second to none.  Aaron and I brought our instruments for some busking, and made a few bucks and plenty of friends before we got shut down.  Apparently, we should have stayed outside the gates and busked along with the dozen or so people selling ice water the dazed crowd.

Aaron and some new pals

We then considered ourselves sated and content to wander over to the “Pioneer Days” area, where we knew our kind would be welcome.  That is how we ended up playing tunes in a log cabin in the MN State Fairgrounds.  The pioneers lavished us with praise, as the families in polo shirts and bermuda shorts gnawing on turkey drumsticks looked on, and I’m pretty sure the fancily-dressed young washerwoman made eyes at Aaron.

And the Natives were pleased

When we got back into Red Wing, Aaron’s landlords were having a barbeque/bonfire.  Once again, we were *forced* to play more tunes, be well fed, and lauded for our musical talents.  The company was excellent, the bratwurst was delicious, and we could hear somebody raising holy hell on a dirtbike nearby.  I LOVE Minnesota!  And, I must say that Saturday was a rousing success, even better than playing tunes the night before with Dale the Accordianist at Bierstube during their Fish Fry.

Sunday of course was spent purging the fryer grease from my system by spending hours scraping paint from the exterior of my house.  Taking care of business.  Overall, a great way to break up the focused efforts of schoolin’, and a successful weekend by all accounts!

Sunset over Lake Pepin, MN